greg3

Excellent little boat.... The brick built hull looks perfect (hope your grandmother liked it!!) Nice work!!

Hi Here's a quick photo of mine.... Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr As you can see the orange band is a bit wonky it seems to be slightly higher up the dome on the left. But the printing does seem a lot sharper on mine. Hope that helps!!

I don't know anything about trains but this looks excellent!! The only criticism I might have is the lack of snow!! That aside though it looks great... Good luck with the competition!!

Neat looking mill!! The wheel/stream looks great and the building design is spot on!! (Not sure if a real mill would have an open fireplace though!!) Nice work and good luck in the competition!

That looks great!! The details are amazing (I really like the design of the Ferris wheel gondolas) This would definitely make a great addition to the official WV carousel set. Thanks for sharing it and good luck!

Brilliant!! The school looks great but I really like the glasshouse design (clever use of garage doors!!) I did do a double take when I read about the "wee stream"!! Anyway good luck in the completion... This one is definitely one of my favourites!!

Clever idea!! Looks the part too (as others have said it could fit right into a modern city scene) The details really bring it to life (the snowbound convertible made me smile!!) I just hope Santa keeps paying his rent on the unit!! Nice work and good luck with the competition!!

Looks good so far LT.... Looking forward to seeing the finished shop!!

Nice!! I especially like the barn interior!! Hope animals get well soon!! Good luck with it in the comp.

Nice design (I especially like the fact that it's inspired by real buildings. It wouldn't look out of place in a medieval layout!) Thanks for sharing and good luck.

This looks just like an official set!! (The fireplace looks especially cosy) I just hope a hungry customer doesn't try to eat the shop keeper!! Nice work and good luck!

Nice work!! The exterior looks spot on and I love the chandelier and piano especially!! Just a pity the dance floor couldn't be a bit bigger but I guess it needed to fit into the WV style. Still a super build though. Good luck in the comp!

Excellent build!! I especially like the "cloud cuckoo" style design.... The wonky window is especially well done!! The interior looks great too.... I'm sure Uni-kitty loves it!! Nice work and good luck with it.

Great idea!! I love the idea of the "snowball blaster"! The fort looks great too... And I especially like the way the games can actually be played by humans (as well as elves and reindeer.... I just hope you let Rudolph join in these reindeer games!!) Good luck in the comp.

Hi It's a New Year so it's time for a new topic to chart the goings on in my village (or is it now a small town?) of Ballabreek! I thought I'd start with a quick look at how it looks at the min... This year might see a few changes!! Our sightseeing tour comes courtesy of my latest MOC - a hopper balloon (info for which I've posted in its own topic). Welcome to Ballabreek's Hopper Balloon Tours, my name's Frank and I'll be your guide.... Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Let's go... Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr The old mine has now been back in business for nearly 2 years and has revitalised the local economy. You can see the main road is currently closed so that construction work can begin to improve access to the site. Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr The centre of Ballabreek... Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr The main shopping/residential area. This year will probably see considerable changes here as there are plans to replace at least some of the shops/houses. Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr The beach... I'm thinking that the new Friends lighthouse might look good here!! Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Unfortunately after that last photo, Frank's balloon suffered a heavy landing (OK I dropped it!) and needs some repairs so here's one last shot of the whole layout. I'm planning to finally adding the back of the mine/hillside (seen here in the foreground) and adding a bit more vegetation/countryside. Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr As always, comments/suggestions are more than welcome. Cheers and thanks for looking.

Well the new Star Wars and Ultra Agents sets are up on the UK site and available for order. The exclusives are still "coming soon"!

Hello and Happy New Year! Over Christmas, I finally "gave in" and bought my first Friends set (the hot air balloon)!! Today I decided to see if I could improve the basket design and while searching for reference pics I came across photos of hopper balloons and my first MOC of the year was born!! These hot air balloons are designed for 1 pilot who rides on a simple seat/harness attatched to a frame along with the gas cylinder that feeds a burner above his head. I based the seat/frame design of mine (rather loosely) on the most common design I came across "The Cloudhopper". Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Rear view Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Close up Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Ready for take-off! Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr The balloon still looks a bit under scale but hey, it's Lego!! Thanks for looking, comments are always welcome.

Loving the look of that diving ship... The original Divers theme was one of my favourites so I can't wait for the new version!! 2015 looks like it's going to be an expensive year for me!!!

That's really nice!! I love the rickety looking design and the interior details are perfect - don't think I'd like to be living there in a storm though!! Excellent work!

Very nice!! The detailing around the arch is definitely my favourite bit!! Excellent work!!

Well today is Boxing Day (St Stephen's Day) which means only one thing in Ballabreek.... It's time to "Hunt the Wren"! Hunting the wren is a ancient local tradition that is similar to those celebrated in parts of Ireland, Engand and even areas of France. In the past, local boys and young men would set off on the morning of St Stephen's day to hunt a wren. The unfortunate bird would then be tied to a pole and paraded around local villages. People would be given feathers from the wren as they were believed to give good luck and protection from witchcraft and drowning! There would then be lots of feasting and drinking (any excuse!!) Nowadays the wren has been replaced with a pole decorated with evergreen plants (often with a fake bird in the centre) and is paraded around the local streets. DSC03737 by g.nat, on Flickr DSC03739 by g.nat, on Flickr The parade ends with people gathering around the pole to sing and dance a traditional song that tells the tale of a wren hunt. DSC03745 by g.nat, on Flickr DSC03747 by g.nat, on Flickr The Wren Pole (this was a quick attempt, next year I might work on improving the design!!) DSC03752 by g.nat, on Flickr More info on the tradition can be found here http://www.bbc.co.uk/isleofman/content/articles/2005/12/07/hunting_the_wren_feature.shtml Thanks for looking... And enjoy the rest of the holidays from me and all the minifigs in Ballabreek. (They'll be back in 2015!)

Nice layout!! I especially like the additions (especially the train and tunnel entrance!) I've got all the WV sets too but this is the first year I've not had space to display them altogether so mine are scattered around the living room!! Your display makes me determined to find a way to show them all together next year!! Thanks for sharing and merry Christmas!!

A quick festive update!! Well with one thing and another, it's been a very quiet year for the citizens of Ballabreek and it's ending that way too with a nice peaceful Christmas. The tree is up in the park Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr The church has set up a couple of displays outside, depicting scenes from the nativity. Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Finally an ice skating rink has been set up near the beach for the enjoyment of the locals. Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Bonus pics (close ups of the nativity scenes) I've seen a few versions on here in the past and thought they'd make a good addition to the small church. I based them on popular carols! Away in a manger/We three kings DSC03732 by g.nat, on Flickr Hark the herald angels/While shepherds watch their flocks by night DSC03736 by g.nat, on Flickr Thanks for looking - and Happy Christmas!!!

Hi Just thought I'd share my Ghostusters vehicles. Much as I love the official ECTO-1 set, it's just too big for my village/town layout (which despite its small size, still has its fair share of paranormal activity!!) The solution? A Ghostbusters Quick Response Team!! No 1 - The Ghostbusting Bike image by g.nat, on Flickr image by g.nat, on Flickr Can carry a Ghostbuster and all his equipment (incl. proton pack and trap) to the scene of any supernatural activity fast and efficiently. image by g.nat, on Flickr image by g.nat, on Flickr No. 2 - The Mobile Operations Centre used for longer missions and those far from New York (Based on the "ECTO-2" vehicle in the IDW comic series) A MOD of the recent City Campervan Set (using parts from the official ECTO-1 where possible) image by g.nat, on Flickr image by g.nat, on Flickr Able to carry 3 Ghostbusters and their gear. image by g.nat, on Flickr Fully equipped with a Portable Containment Unit, analysis computer and even a copy of Tobin's Spirit Guide. image by g.nat, on Flickr Also has facilities for charging/maintaining equipment such as ghost traps. image by g.nat, on Flickr Finally a rear view... image by g.nat, on Flickr Thanks for looking.... Perhaps we'll see them in action soon!!! Anyway comments always welcome!!

As it's October the 31st, this update has a suitably "spooky" theme... As this year the people of Ballabreek have been entertained by "Jinny the Witch's Scare Fair!!" Roll up, get your tickets here!! DSC03726 by g.nat, on Flickr Zombie balloon seller DSC03725 by g.nat, on Flickr Traditional duck apple... Retrieve an apple from a bowl of water using only your teeth!! DSC03716 by g.nat, on Flickr Test your strength on the "Bash the Bat" challenge!! DSC03718 by g.nat, on Flickr Then "Dunk Dracula" in some suspicious green goo!! DSC03719 by g.nat, on Flickr If all that's not exciting enough, then you can watch the fire show... Fire breathers and jugglers. DSC03721 by g.nat, on Flickr Don't worry, the coastguard and fire brigade are there just in case!! DSC03723 by g.nat, on Flickr Overview DSC03714 by g.nat, on Flickr Of course, as they're in the Isle of Man, the locals of Ballabreek wouldn't dream of calling this a Halloween show. Instead the 31st of October is known Hop-tu-naa, a festival that dates back to Celtic times. Originally a celebration marking the new year, it's only in recent times that it has begun to incorporate aspects of Halloween (but still with a local twist). Lanterns are carved from turnips (pumpkins are considered to be for wimps! (If you're tried hollowing out a turnip you'd know why!!)) and rather than "trick or treat" children go from door to door singing Hop-tu-naa songs (the most common being about Jinny the witch, a local woman who was tried for witchcraft). But that would have made for a bit of a boring display so I decided to spice it up a bit and incorporate a MODed version of the Mixer fairground!! Thanks for looking and happy Hop-tu-naa.... Or Halloween if you prefer!!